An upmarket wedding cake firm and bakery that launched Scotland’s first dedicated cupcake store has closed after 25 years.
Glasgow-based firm, Top Tier Cakes, which had outlets in Hyndland and the Merchant City has ceased trading with immediate effect.
The news was announced via signs in the firm’s shop windows. A notice in Cupcakes By Top Tier, on Bell Street, said the owners were hoping a buyer would come forward to save the business.
“We have worked very hard over the past year to modernise the business, but despite our best efforts we have been unable to make the necessary changes quickly enough to enable us to cope with the current retailing conditions,” it said.
Building on the growing popularity of cupcakes, The Bell Street Shop opened in February 2009. The Hyndland shop, which recently underwent a large refurbishment, caters for wedding and birthday cakes. The firm also has bakery premises in Govan.
Fears were also raised for brides-to-be who had ordered cakes for their big day. Top Tier has informed all customers who have placed orders that they will be contacted either by letter or phone and offered refunds.
Campbell Dallas Accountants issued a statement on behalf of owner Mark Bradford, director of Centrepiece Confectionery, which trades as Top Tier Cakes.
Until June last year, Top Tier Cakes was owned by founder Evelyn Hogarth, who founded the business in 1988. For seven years Hogarth had previously sold cakes from her home. Spotting a gap for a specialist cake shop in Glasgow, she received a bank loan and turned Top Tier Cakes into a business with a start-up fund of £15,000. The firm achieved an annual turnover of £300,000, an employee roll of 14 and an expansive customer base, covering New York, San Francisco, Dubai and Hong Kong.
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